The country along the Jordan River was sparsely settled early in 1849. Archibald and Robert Gardner built the first saw mill in the area in 1850. To operate it, they made a mill race two and one half miles long. These days, "millrace" is now associated with several developments, streets and a park built in Taylorsville in the area along the Jordan River around 5400 south. Millrace park includes a fenced area designed for dogs to run off-leash.
When first built, the off-leash area included a stream and small pond where the dogs could wade. However, the pond was removed because it became too messy, clogged with dog hair and waste. The council learned that the contractor who built the park set the pond to drain into the nearby Jordan River, which is illegal. (It was estimated it would cost about $80,000 to connect the pond to sewer lines and, at one point, city staff researched whether that burden could be made to fall on the engineer who designed the pond or the contractor who built it.)
Another major problem at the park is the grass. The park was planted with the same bluegrass blend that most municipal parks use, but because of the park's intense use--and the fact that dogs are, by nature, intense users--much of the grass is torn up, and any rain or watering leaves muddy, messy puddles. (At one time, park users had to tell the city council they will use the park whether it's muddy or grassy, rainy or sunny or snowy--just leave the park open, they begged. Ideas of replacing the grass with a hardier variety, fine gravel or bark were passed around. The council took no action but did decide to set up a task force of the park's users to talk out the problems, weigh the proposed solutions, come up with new ideas and present them to the council periodically. And many solutions have already been proposed.)
Eventually the decision was made to start levying a fee for park use. Such a fee, then Councilman Russ Wall said, would be as much about encouraging nearby cities to build their own parks so their residents wouldn't have to pay as it would be about raising money. Obviously, the park would be easier to maintain if less people were using it. This fee may have been instrumental in the development of West Jordan's own dog park.
Now Mayor of Taylorsville, Russ Wall is widely rumored not to be a big supporter of the off-leash area. On the one hand, the city is concerned about trying to maintain an area that is overused. On the other hand, park users see a lack of maintenance and repairs for a park those users pay a fee on.